Weak :: SniperXScout
by xXNiueXx
Summary: Scout's been feeling down, and it's up to Sniper to help.


Soldier stood in front of us, me and the other seven RED mercenaries, gesturing wildly as he spoke. Well, more like yelled. "...and moral discipline!" Using my foot, I traced a small line in the sand. "Scout!" Soldier yelled.

"Wha?" I exclaimed, startled.

"Were you paying any attention?"

"..." I didn't reply.

"Well?"

"No..."

That's no, SIR!"

I sighed, slightly pissed off. "No, sir." I repeated, rolling my eyes.

"Drop and give me fifty!"

"Solly! C'mon man!"

"Do it, private!"

With a sigh, I dropped to the ground, beginning my push-ups.

"One... Two... Three..." I huffed as I went. At five, I paused for a fraction of a second to catch my breath.

"Scout!" Soldier yelled again, startling me so badly I fell on my stomach.

"I did not tell you to stop!"

I was practically seething with anger. It made me so mad that Soldier picked on me, and me alone. Well, all of them did really. I was the youngest, and the weakest of the nine mercs.

Sniper was over on the other side of the line, in a conversation with Spy. Engineer had a few bits of metal in his hands, and was toying with it. And Pyro, it had a lighter and was flicking it on and off. But noooo, you didn't see any of them doing push-ups!

"Scout, get your sorry ass back up and keep going!"

Now Sniper took notice. "Solly, Don'tcha think you're bein' a little hard on the bloke?"

"He needs to learn to pay attention! It's discipline!"

Sniper made a noise under his breath, possibly words, but I couldn't tell what it was from where I was, face all but in the dirt.

"Fifteen... Sixteen... Seventeen..." My arms were beginning to burn. Running I could do easily, but push-ups were all but impossible for me.

"All right, let's head inside..." Engineer said.

Everybody followed Engie back into the base, probably to get dinner. It was a Wednesday, meaning Engineer was probably making some kind of burger. My stomach rumbled in anticipation of the meal to come.

"Thirty three... Thirty...four... Thirty... Five..." I felt like I was going to collapse.

I heard a door slam, and it was silent outside once again.

"Forty one... Ugh..." I grumbled as my arms gave out and I landed face-first in the dirt again.

Standing to my feet, I brushed most of the dirt off my face and light blue shirt before heading to the door. Pushing the handle, I rolled my eyes. Just as if guessed- they'd locked me out.

I knocked on it, hoping that maybe one of them would just open the door, but nothing happened.

"Sit down, private! Do not open that door!" Soldier yelled from inside.

Wonderful. Just absolutely freaking wonderful. Somebody actually cared enough to open the goddamn door for me, but noooo, Solly wouldn't allow it.

I sighed, sitting down in the dirt with a defeated sigh. I could hear the others laughing and talking and generally having fun inside as they ate. It never seemed this fun when I was with them. There was always somebody getting on my case. "Scout, the sauce is for everyone to share." "Scout, you're being too loud." "Scout, you're too young to smoke like the rest of us." "Scout, even though you're twenty three we're not letting you have alcohol because we're selfish assholes." Every day, there was something somebody found wrong with me.

The only guy on the team who treated me like an actual adult was Sniper. Sniper... The one I liked more than any other on the team. As in, really, really liked. Sniper was nice, but occasionally he would side with the others when there was a disagreement.

"Hey, does anyone want the last burger? Seein' as Scout's not accompanyin' us for dinner." Engineer asked, chuckling. Hell, even Hardhat didn't want me inside!

"MINE!" Soldier replied quickly. Wonderful. No dinner for me tonight, the third night in a row I hadn't eaten.

The sky was darkening, and gray clouds covered the sky. Of course it would rain, the day clearly couldn't get any worse for me.

I stood up, eyeing the barn across the small field. It could provide a bit of shelter from the storm that I knew was coming. I took off at a sprint, trying to reach the barn before it began to pour. I was only about halfway across the yard when the skies opened up and frickin' dumped on me. Ma once told me that rain was like the tears of angels or something. If that was true, they'd pro'lly be sobbing as they pitied me.

Hah, who'm I kidding. I'd be in an alternate universe before anybody pitied me.

I made it to the barn, albeit thoroughly soaked. Crouching in the corner, I rubbed my wet face, pushing the dripping rainwater out of my eyes. "Christ..." I muttered, looking around the barn. The place was deserted, clearly nobody had been in here for ages.

With a small groan, I sat down, leaning against the wall and curling my knees to my chest.

I felt so alone, so ignored. You'd try to tell me that it would get better, that they'd leave me alone eventually. It's been five years, I don't think it's done anything but get worse. I sometimes don't even know how I haven't just killed myself. It's bad enough being kicked out of my family after Ma n'my bros found out I was gay, n'now hear guys are just giving me shit for bein' weak! These idiots don't even know half of the shit that matters, but it still bothers me. I feel like shit half the time. All of it, all of this shit, I'm too close to the edge.

I reached into my pocket, extracting a small knife. Don't ask where I got it, you don't want to know. I've had it for so long, it's like a part of me now.

I let out a soft breath as I brought the familiar cool blade against my wrist.

Pressing further, I practically felt the weight of everything fade as blood wet the knife's edge.

I relished in the familiar feeling of the knife digging into my skin. I know I shouldn't, but... It just felt so... _right_.

XxxxX

"Did you even bother letting him back inside?" Sniper yelled.

Soldier shrugged. "The maggot can get inside if he wants!"

"No he can't! The door is locked! He's probably out there freezing and wet!" Sniper turned, storming towards the door. "Oi'm going t'let him in."

Soldier frowned. "Maggot..." He left the room quickly.

Sniper hurried to the door, a worried expression on his face. He fumbled with the lock for a moment, before unlatching it and yanking it open.

"Scout?" He called, stepping out into the rain. Scanning the now-muddy wasteland, he didn't see any sign of the young boy. "You- you can come in now, mate..."

No reply. Sniper sighed and closed the door, stepping out into the rain. "Scout?"

Spotting the barn on the far side of the field, he could guess that that was where Scout had taken shelter from the rain.

Running towards it, he pulled his hat lower onto his face, shielding it from the rain.

He reached the barn thoroughly wet, bursting in. "Scout, you in here?" He asked loudly.

He heard a gasp and the clatter of metal on wood. Whirling around, he spotted Scout on his knees in the corner.

"What are you doing here?" Scout asked harshly, although the crack in his voice betrayed that he'd been crying.

Sniper frowned, removing his hat so that he could look around. "What are you doing in the corner?"

"I asked you first, Chucklenuts!" Scout's defiant voice replied.

"Oi- Oi was looking for you?"

"Why would anybody look for _me_?"

"Because Oi care. Now, Oi asked why you were in the corner."

"Pffft... Like anybody cares about me..."

"Believe it or not, Scout, people do care about'cha."

Scout let out a harsh laugh. "Real funny, asshat."

"Oi'm not joking!"

"Name one fuckin' person who cares about me."

"Oi care about'cha..."

Scout looked up, meeting Sniper's gray eyes with his own blue ones.

"Wh-what?" He squeaked.

Sniper sat down on the wood floor a few feet in front of Scout. "You heard me..."

"But... nobody... nobody cares about me..."

"Are you daft, mate? Oi care!"

Scout shook his head. "You're just fuckin' with me, man..."

Sniper let out a sigh. "It's never going to get through to you, is it mate?"

Scout didn't reply.

"Scout..."

"Just... Stop. Please..."

"Scout... listen, please..."

"What?"

Sniper moved closer, and Scout immediately shrank back into the shadowy corner. "Don't come near me..." He hissed.

"Calm down... Oi won't come any closer... Oi just... Oi need to tell you how Oi feel..."

"How you _feel_?"

"Yeah... Oi... Oi really do care about ya... a lot... and, no matter what the guys say, you're pretty cool... and Oi... Oi don't know how you put up with all of it, really... and, Scout... Oi... Oi really like you. A lot. Like, like-like you..."

Scout was dumbstruck. "You... You like me? You're not just fuckin' with me?"

Sniper inched closer. "Yeah..."

Scout moved forwards a bit, almost out of the shadows.

"Why don'cha come out of the shadows, mate?"

"Because... You'll hate me... You'll think I'm weak..."

"Scout... Oi would never do that to you. Nothing you could do would change my feelings towards you..."

Scout shuffled across the floor a bit, until he was out of the corner.

"Oh, Scout..." Sniper began, seeing the cuts lined up along Scout's wrists. "Why?"

"B-because... I can't handle it... Any of it..." Scout choked out, beginning to sob again.

Sniper moved forwards, pulling the younger boy into his arms. "Shh..." He soothed, rubbing his back.

Scout's thin body shook with each sob as he wrapped his arms around Sniper's chest, face against where his heart was.

"Oi love ya, mate. No matter what happens." Sniper whispered in the boy's ear. Soon, he calmed down, and looked up at Sniper. "Thanks... for... for everything..."

"You're welcome..." Sniper replied quietly, before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Scout's lips.

Scout knew in that moment, everything was going to be okay.


End file.
